Pedroia slam helps Red Sox to 7-1 win over A’s

Boston Red Sox's Dustin Pedroia drops his bat while watching the flight of his grand slam off Oakland Athletics pitcher Ryan Cook during the sixth inning of a baseball game at Fenway Park in Boston, Friday, May 2, 2014. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Boston Red Sox's Dustin Pedroia celebrates as he passes Oakland Athletics catcher John Jaso while crossing home plate on his grand slam during the sixth inning of a baseball game at Fenway Park in Boston, Friday, May 2, 2014. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Oakland Athletics relief pitcher Ryan Cook pauses behind the pitcher's mound after giving up a grand slam to Boston Red Sox's Dustin Pedroia during the sixth inning of a baseball game at Fenway Park in Boston, Friday, May 2, 2014. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Clay Buchholz is congratulated after being taken out during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Oakland Athletics at Fenway Park in Boston, Friday, May 2, 2014. Buchholz allowed one earned run on three hits and struck out five in his outing. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Clay Buchholz is congratulated after being taken out during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Oakland Athletics at Fenway Park in Boston, Friday, May 2, 2014. Buchholz allowed one earned run on three hits and struck out five in his outing. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Boston Red Sox's Dustin Pedroia drops his bat while watching the flight of his grand slam off Oakland Athletics relief pitcher Ryan Cook during the sixth inning of a baseball game at Fenway Park in Boston, Friday, May 2, 2014. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

BOSTON – Dustin Pedroia hit a grand slam for his 100th career home run and Clay Buchholz picked up his first win at home as the Red Sox beat the Oakland Athletics, 7-1, last night.

Pedroia had yet to homer this season before driving an 0-2 pitch out to left field in the sixth inning to put Boston up 6-1. The cushion was plenty for Buchholz (2-2), who shut down the team with the top record in the American League.

Buchholz pitched 6.1 innings, allowing one run on three hits and striking out five. He walked three and got himself out of several jams as the A’s left five on base and were 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position against Buchholz.

John Jaso scored Oakland’s only run, coming in on a wild pitch after leading off the third with a triple.

Boston was having its own struggles with runners on before Pedroia came through in the sixth off of reliever Ryan Cook. Xander Bogaerts and A.J. Pierzynski started the sixth with back-to-back singles off Dan Otero, who began the inning. Otero struck out Will Middlebrooks, then walked Bradley to load the bases with one out.

Cook relieved Otero and got Pedroia down 0-2, before he cleared the bases with a shot that just cleared the Green Monster. A’s Manager Bob Melvin challenged whether the ball cleared the yellow line before a fan touched it and lost the appeal.

The milestone homer put him in elite Red Sox company as only the second player in franchise history with 100 home runs and 100 stolen bases. Pedroia, who stole his 121st career base in the first inning, joins Carl Yastrzemski (452 home runs, 168 steals).

Boston hadn’t scored since getting a pair of runs in the second inning off starter Dan Straily (1-2). Grady Sizemore led off with a double and scored on Pierzynski’s single with one out. Jackie Bradley Jr. added a two-out double to drive in Pierzynski and Boston led 2-0.

Bradley ended a potential rally for the A’s in the eighth with a leaping catch at the center field wall, then hitting Pedroia with a strong relay throw. Pedroia threw to Mike Napoli as Josh Donaldson scrambled to get back after rounding second before seeing Bradley make the catch.

Straily pitched 4.1 innings, allowing two runs on four hits. He struck out three and walked three.

Notes

∎ Buchholz allowed 12 runs on 20 hits over 6.2 innings in his first two starts at Fenway Park this season.

∎ Bogaerts has reached safely in 14 straight games.

∎ Pierzynski played his 1,700th career game behind the plate.

∎ Pedroia could catch Yastrzemski’s steal total of 168, but Yaz’s 452 homers are probably out of reach for Boston’s pesky second baseman.

∎ Oakland played its first game in May after tying the franchise record for wins in April with an 18-9 record.

Rick Porcello cruised through seven innings and Detroit battered Kansas City right-hander James Shields again in the opener of a three-game set.

Victor Martinez had a pair of doubles and drove in two runs. J.D. Martinez and Alex Avila also drove in two runs apiece as the Tigers won their fourth straight against the Royals.

Porcello (4-1) extended the best start of his career, giving up a solo homer to Billy Butler and a sacrifice fly to Eric Hosmer. The right-hander allowed four hits while striking out six without a walk.

Shields (3-3) yielded eight runs – seven earned – and 12 hits in 6.1 innings. It was his worst outing since last September, when Shields gave up 10 runs in another lousy start against the Tigers.

The Royals also lost All-Star catcher Salvador Perez when he fouled a pitch off his shin in the seventh.

ORIOLES 3, TWINS 0

Ubaldo Jimenez struck out a season-high 10 over 7.1 innings for his first win with Baltimore, and Nelson Cruz hit a two-run homer to pad the lead against Minnesota.

Jimenez (1-4) allowed only three hits while taking a significant step forward from five rough starts to begin his $50 million, four-year contract with the Orioles.

Tommy Hunter got his eighth save in nine tries. Trevor Plouffe led off with a double, but Hunter struck out the next two and ended the game with a groundout.

Ricky Nolasco (2-3) gave the Twins a complete game, giving up nine hits while striking out six.

Cruz also doubled in the fourth and scored on a double by Matt Wieters.

INDIANS 12, WHITE SOX 5

Michael Brantley homered and drove in three runs, Carlos Santana also went deep and Cleveland broke a six-game losing streak with a win over Chicago.

Brantley hit a leadoff homer in the fifth and added a two-run single in the sixth. Santana hit a solo homer in the second and had an RBI single in a five-run first. Ryan Raburn and Yan Gomes each drove in two runs.

Danny Salazar (1-3) was charged with five runs, three earned, in five innings and earned his first win of the season.

Jose Abreu hit his major league-leading 11th homer but the White Sox couldn’t overcome a shaky start by John Danks (2-2), who allowed eight runs in five innings. Chicago has lost seven straight at Progressive Field.

The Indians placed All-Star second baseman Jason Kipnis on the 15-day disabled list with a pulled muscle on his side. He is expected to miss three to five weeks.